Abstract
Purpose
Campylobacter is a frequent cause of enteric infections with common antimicrobial resistance issues. The most recent reports of campylobacteriosis in Italy include data from 2013 to 2016. We aimed to provide national epidemiological and microbiological data on human Campylobacter infections in Italy during the period 2017–2021.
Methods
Data was collected from 19 Hospitals in 13 Italian Regions. Bacterial identification was performed by mass spectrometry. Antibiograms were determined with Etest or Kirby-Bauer (EUCAST criteria).
Results
In total, 5419 isolations of Campylobacter spp. were performed. The most common species were C. jejuni (n = 4535, 83.7%), followed by C. coli (n = 732, 13.5%) and C. fetus (n = 34, 0.6%). The mean age of patients was 34.61 years and 57.1% were males. Outpatients accounted for 54% of the cases detected. Campylobacter were isolated from faeces in 97.3% of cases and in 2.7% from blood. C. fetus was mostly isolated from blood (88.2% of cases). We tested for antimicrobial susceptibility 4627 isolates (85.4%). Resistance to ciprofloxacin and tetracyclines was 75.5% and 54.8%, respectively; resistance to erythromycin was 4.8%; clarithromycin 2% and azithromycin 2%. 50% of C. jejuni and C. coli were resistant to ≥ 2 antibiotics. Over the study period, resistance to ciprofloxacin and tetracyclines significantly decreased (p < 0.005), while resistance to macrolides remained stable.
Conclusion
Campylobacter resistance to fluoroquinolones and tetracyclines in Italy is decreasing but is still high, while macrolides retain good activity.
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Data availability
The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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SDB and LP conceived the idea of and designed the study with VZ; SA, SA, RA, MB, AB, GB, MB, GC, DC, AC, NC, EC, CC, GC, AC, VC, VC, MDS, SD, BF, EG, FG, NM, AEM, AM, DM, RM, CM, AM, GM, AM, GN, EP, EMP, SP, MS, AS, DT and CV contributed to investigation and data collection; GS, RP and VZ analysed the data; VZ wrote the first draft; SDB, LP, VZ, RP, AGF, LV, RMLR, CF and GS contributed to the interpretation of the data, writing and reviewing of the first draft of the manuscript. All authors reviewed and commented on subsequent versions of the manuscript. All authors approved the submitted version of the manuscript.
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The planning, conduct and reporting of this study was in line with the Declaration of Helsinki. The study was approved by the Trieste University Ethical Committee (n°V132_2806_23). Consent to participate was assessed according to the Ethical Committee.
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Zerbato, V., Di Bella, S., Pol, R. et al. Human Campylobacter spp. infections in Italy. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-024-04803-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-024-04803-0